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Kids' WB
Kids' WB was an American children's programming block that originally aired on The WB Television Network from September 9, 1995 to September 16, 2006. On September 23, 2006, the block moved to The CW, which was created by CBS Corporation and WB co-parent Time Warner as a replacement for The WB and UPN, with much of its programming being borrowed from them. The Kids' WB television block ended on May 17, 2008, and the Saturday morning programming slot was sold to 4Kids Entertainment to launch The CW4Kids/Toonzai (which has since been replaced by Vortexx). Kids WB was relaunched as an online network on April 28, 2008, a few weeks before it was replaced by The CW4Kids. The service allows viewers to watch live-action and animated content, including those from Looney Tunes, Hanna-Barbera and DC Comics. The website operates different zones based on programming type: Kids' WB, Kids' WB, Jr. (for shows aimed at younger children) and DC HeroZone (for action-oriented animated series). It is also available on Fancast featuring Looney Tunes shorts, and full episodes of television series such as Scooby Doo, The Flintstones and The Jetsons. History Early Years Kids WB debuted on The WB on September 9, 1995, airing on Saturday mornings from 8:00 to 11:00 a.m., and weekdays from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. (the block was structured to air in all time zones, airing on a tape delay outside of the Eastern Time Zone, to adjust the recommended airtime of the block to each time zone). On September 7, 1996, the Saturday block was extended by a full hour, airing from 8:00 to 12:00 p.m. ET. Although the Kids' WB block aired on almost all WB-affiliated stations (including those later affiliated with The WB 100+ Station Group), the network's Chicago affiliate WGN-TV – owned by The WB's co-parent, the Tribune Company – declined to air the weekday and Saturday blocks to air its weekday and weekend morning newscasts and other locally-produced programming (such as The Bozo Super Sunday Show) in the morning hours, and syndicated programming in the afternoons (ironically, WGN's superstation feed carried the block for its four-year run as a WB affiliate for markets without an in-market affiliate; Kids' WB would later move to WGN-TV's Chicago broadcast signal from WCIU-TV in 2004). On September 1, 1997, a weekday morning block was added from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m., and the weekday afternoon block was extended by one hour, airing from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Some WB affiliates (such as WPIX in New York City, New York, KTLA in Los Angeles, California and KWGN-TV in Denver, Colorado) aired the weekday morning block in conjunction with the weekday afternoon block, extending it to three hours, running from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. On the same date, the block received an on-air rebranding – that included a revised logo and graphics package centered upon the Warner Bros. Studios lot theme that was also used in promotions for The WB's primetime programming during the network's first eight years on the air – which was developed by Riverstreet Productions, and lasted until 2005. Changes at Kids' WB On February 13, 1999, Kids' WB made a breakthrough when the English dub of the anime series Pokémon, by 4Kids Entertainment, moved to the network from broadcast syndication. It became a major hit for the programming block, beating Fox Kids with its animated block backed by Warner Bros. Other anime shows aired on Kids' WB in later years, such as Cardcaptors, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Astro Boy, Megaman NT Warrior and Viewtiful Joe. In July 2001, Kids' WB's afternoon lineup was rebranded Toonami on Kids' WB, extending the Cartoon Network action-cartoon brand Toonami to broadcast television, and bringing shows such as Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z and The Powerpuff Girls to network television. In addition, non-action programming such as the live-action children's horror anthology series The Nightmare Room were also aired on the Toonami block. The afternoon block stopped using the Toonami name in June 2002. On September 3, 2001, the Kids' WB weekday morning block was discontinued, with The WB giving that slot back to its local affiliates to carry locally-produced shows, syndicated programming and/or infomercials. On May 31, 2005, The WB announced that the weekday afternoon Kids' WB block would be discontinued "at the request of the local affiliates", as it became financially unattractive due to the fact broadcast stations perceived that children's programming viewership on afternoon timeslots had gravitated more towards cable networks – these stations began to target more adult audiences with talk shows and sitcom reruns in the daytime. Kids' WB's weekday programming continued, but with redundant programming and theme weeks until December 30, 2005 (the block began to increasingly promote Cartoon Network's afternoon Miguzi block and the Kids' WB Saturday morning lineup during the transition). The weekday afternoon Kids' WB block aired for the last time on December 30, 2005, and was replaced on January 2, 2006 by "Daytime WB", a more adult-targeted general entertainment block featuring repeats of sitcoms and drama series formerly seen on the major networks. As a result, the Saturday morning Kids' WB lineup that remained was extended by one hour on January 7, 2006, running from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., no longer affected by time zone variances. On January 24, 2006, Time Warner (owner of Kids' WB's original broadcaster, The WB) and CBS Corporation (owners of UPN) announced that The WB and UPN would be shut down and replaced by The CW. The combined network utilized The WB's scheduling practices (inherting the 30-hour weekly programming schedule that the network utilized at the time of the announcement) and brought the Kids' WB block, still run by Warner Bros. Television and maintaining the same name, to the new lineup. Cancelation & Rebirth On October 2, 2007, the network announced that due to a joint decision between Time Warner and CBS Corporation (parent companies of The CW), it would discontinue the Kids' WB programming block due to the effects of children's advertising limits and cable competition, and would sell the programming time to 4Kids Entertainment. The Kids' WB block last aired on May 17, 2008 (for some stations that aired the block on a day-behind basis, the block's last airdate was on May 18). On May 24, 2008, 4Kids launched The CW4Kids in place of Kids' WB. The lineup for the block consisted of 4Kids-produced shows, such as Chaotic, as well as new seasons of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. On April 28, 2008, Warner Bros. Entertainment announced that The WB and Kids' WB brands would be relaunched as online networks, with the Kids' WB network consisting of five subchannels: Kids' WB, Kids' WB Jr., Scooby-Doo, Looney Tunes, and DC Hero Zone. After the dissolution of In2TV, the Kids' WB online portal absorbed most of that service's children's programming. The service was significantly scaled back in 2013 and most of the archival video was removed. In May 2015, the Kids' WB website was split up into a Looney Tunes website, a Scooby Doo website, and a DC Heroes website, retiring the 20-year old Kids' WB banner. Kids' WB Announcers *Jim Cummings *Rino Romano *Jeff Bennett *Harland Williams *Maurice LaMarche *Jonathan David Cook *Tom Kenny *Dana Snyder *Kevin Michael Richardson Programming By Warner Bros. Animation/Warner Bros. Television * Animaniacs (1995–1999) * The Batman (2004–2008) * Batman: The Animated Series (1997–2000) * Batman Beyond (1999–2001) * Bugs N' Daffy (1996–1999) * The Cat&Birdy Warneroonie PinkyBrainy Big Cartoonie Show (1999–2000) * The Daffy Duck Show (1996–1997) * Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island (2005–2006) * Detention (1999–2001) * Freakazoid! (1995–1997) * Histeria! (1998–2001) * Johnny Test (2005–2008) * Krypto the Superdog (2006–2007) * Legion of Super Heroes (2006–2008) * Loonatics Unleashed (2005–2007) * Monster Allergy (2005) * ¡Mucha Lucha! (2002–2005) * The Nightmare Room (2001–2002) * Ozzy & Drix (2002–2004) * Pinky and the Brain (1995–1998) * Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain (1998–1999) * Road Rovers (1996–1997) * Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! (2006–2008) * Static Shock (2000–2004) * Superman: The Animated Series (1996–2000) * The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries (1995–2001) * Teen Titans (2003–2008) * That's Warner Bros.! (1995–1996) * Tiny Toon Adventures (1997–2000) * Tom and Jerry Tales (2006–2008) * Waynehead (1996–1997) * What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2002–2005) * Xiaolin Showdown (2003–2006) * The Zeta Project (2001–2002) From Cartoon Network/Cartoon Network Studios * Codename: Kids Next Door (2004) * Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends (2005) * The Powerpuff Girls (2002) * Samurai Jack (2001) From Hanna-Barbera * The All-New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show * Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1997–1998) * The New Scooby-Doo Movies * Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo * The Scooby-Doo Show * Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! By Sony Pictures Animation * Channel Umptee-3 (1997–1998) * Generation O! (2000–2001) * Jackie Chan Adventures (2000–2005) * Men in Black: The Series (1997–2001) * Phantom Investigators (2002) By 4Kids Entertainment * Pokémon (1999–2006) * Cubix: Robots for Everyone (2001–2003) * Yu-Gi-Oh! (2001–2006) * Chamber Quest (2002-2004) Other Anime * Astro Boy (2004) * Cardcaptor Sakura (2000–2001) * Dino Galactic (2002-2004) * Dragon Ball Z (2001) * MegaMan NT Warrior (2003–2005) * Sailor Moon (2001) * Spider Riders (2006–2007) * Transformers: Cybertron (2005–2006) * Viewtiful Joe (2005–2006) From Marvel Animation * The Spectacular Spider-Man (2008) * X-Men: Evolution (2000–2003) From Cookie Jar Group * World of Quest (2008) * Magi-Nation (2007–2008) * Johnny Test (2005–2008) * Spider Riders (2006–2007) * Will and Dewitt (2007–2008) Miscellaneous * Brats of the Lost Nebula (1998) * Da Boom Crew (2004–2005) * Earthworm Jim (1995–1997) * Eon Kid (2007–2008) * Invasion America (1998) * The Legend of Calamity Jane (1997) * Max Steel (2000–2001) * Machine Quest from Chinese (2006-2007) * Monster Allergy (2006–2007) * The Mummy: The Animated Series (2001–2003) * Rescue Heroes: Global Response Team (2001–2003) * Skunk Fu! (2007–2008) Notable Specials & Promotions Welcome Home, Animaniacs! This was the very first Kids' WB! special, and was a Saturday morning preview special not unlike those that had been shown on ABC in the past. However, this special is rather hard to find, as not many WB Network affiliates actually aired it. And the few WB affiliates that did air the special aired it right after Kids' WB!'s first broadcast. This special, hosted by Harland Williams, was built around the fact that, for Kids' WB!'s first season, Animaniacs was moving there from Fox Kids, and for the special, new animation had been produced of Yakko, Wakko and Dot driving away from the Fox studios to the Warner Bros. lot. In the meantime, the stars of The WB's prime-time shows gave viewers a look at the new shows: * Robert Townsend and Curtis Williams of The Parent 'Hood gave a peek at the new season of Animaniacs * Tia and Tamera Mowry from Sister, Sister introduced Freakazoid! * Kirk Cameron showed off Earthworm Jim * The Wayans Bros. gave a look at The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries * Pinky and the Brain was featured as well. Big Kids Go First This was a slogan used to describe Kids' WB!'s schedule as of October 19, 1996 (when Waynehead premiered) through November 21 of that year. In an apparent attempt to simplify the four-hour Saturday morning schedule, the action-oriented superhero cartoons were moved to make up the first two hours of the schedule, with the comedy-oriented shows (including Waynehead) making up the last two hours. In this time, the schedule went as follows: This move proved to be a disaster, the mistake being that "big kids" (supposedly the kids who would've preferred the superhero cartoons) were more likely to sleep in on Saturday mornings rather than wake up early to watch the shows. As a result of this, on November 22, Freakazoid! and Earthworm Jim were taken off the Saturday morning block and moved to being shown on Friday afternoons until the following February, when they disappeared from the block entirely, only to have Freakazoid! replaced with The Daffy Duck Show and Earthworm Jim replaced with a classic episode of Animaniacs. An episode of Animaniacs that was broadcast sometime later parodied this move in its gag credit: "On The WB, Big Kids Go First / In Real Life, Big Kids Sleep In." BNL Day BNL Day was the name given to the broadcast aired on May 15, 1999, in which the band the Barenaked Ladies performed between each show. This event was originally intended to be titled Naked Day, but was changed due to complaints from parents. Devon and Cornwall's Dubba Dragon Day Aired in May 1998, this broadcast was themed around promoting the release of the film Quest for Camelot. The backlot set used in the bumpers was specially designed with a medieval theme, and Devon and Cornwall, the two-headed dragon from the film, appeared in specially-made promotional spots. Halloween Duel of Screams In 2002 and 2003, toward Halloween, Kids' WB! would do a promotion similar to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game pitting Kids' WB! characters against one another in a duel, but this time with screaming kids. Whoever had the most screaming kids that could affect others won the duel. It was always done in tournament style, but in 2002, Todd "Toad" Tolensky from X-Men: Evolution was disqualified for eating The Flea from ¡Mucha Lucha!, Ash Ketchum from Pokémon almost lost to Joey Wheeler from Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Jade Chan from Jackie Chan Adventures beat Yugi in the final round. In 2003, Yugi defeated The Masked Toilet from ¡Mucha Lucha! in the final round and won. Hey Dragon, Down in Front! This sweepstakes aired in the afternoon block for a week sometime in the spring of 2004, to promote Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light. Viewers had to identify a dragon from the Yu-Gi-Oh! series when Yugi said "Hey, (dragon's name), down in front!" and when they did, viewers were to log on to the website and enter for a chance to win Yu-Gi-Oh! card decks, as well as discount coupons for the movie. Holiday Sock Party The Holiday Sock Party was an ongoing event from 2001-2005, and had always taken place on the second Saturday in December. During this five year period, the Kids' WB! mascot, the Holiday Sock, usually goes inside of the Kids' WB! promotional watertower, with other character from Kids' WB!, which they doing Christmas-related things. In 2001 and 2002, the sock was the sole host; however, in 2003 The Flea from ¡Mucha Lucha! co-hosted. In 2004 the sock granted the wishes of viewers who wanted to "turn into something" on TV. In 2005, the set was then moved to the Fruit Salad Island from Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island! with Coconut Fred as the co-host, and was about granting wishes again. This did not happen in 2006 and 2007, it was replaced with a singalong for those two years, it didn't occur in 2008, as Kids' WB had disbanded. The Holiday Sock was created by Ryan Sage http://imdb.com/name/nm2024044/ while he worked as a writer/producer for Kids' WB! The Holiday Sock appeared as a question in the 20th Anniversary Edition of Trivial Pursuit, card #582, "Q: Who was not worn out by hosting the Holiday Sock Party? A: The Holiday Sock" Kids' WB! Backlot Tour Kids' WB! had its Kids' WB! Backlot Tour in the parking lot of The Centre Ice Rink at the Delaware State Fairgrounds in Harrington, Delaware, July 20 to 29, 2006, during the Delaware State Fair. It featured the best of Kids' WB programming, Xbox 360 gaming, and other fun activities. It is a nationwide traveling show, usually at Six Flags Theme Park. Mad Mad Mad Monkey Summer Beginning June 5, 2004, Kids' WB! gave their lineup a monkey-based theme, entitling it "Mad Mad Mad Monkey Summer". They did promos such as "1001 Uses For a Banana" showing a Kids' WB! character in need of a banana (usually where it doesn't help or makes things worse), "Stump the Monkey!" where viewers could go online and ask the monkey, "Professor Oo-oo-oo" questions, and pranks where someone in a gorilla costume would pop up randomly in a public area, scaring someone. Ooh Ooh Ahh Ahh (Just For Kids) Island Also, beginning June 14, 2004, Kids' WB! gave their weekday lineup a monkey-related theme to go along with "Mad Mad Mad Monkey Summer" and entitled it "Ooh Ooh Ahh Ahh (Just for Kids) Island". As a special, until July 30, 2004, viewers could enter online to be the Monkey King of the day and have their picture on a monkey's body on TV. This promo lasted longer than Mad Mad Mad Monkey Summer (which ended August 21, 2004, Ooh Ooh Ahh Ahh ended October 22, 2004). Gotta See-ee-eeh Falls Beginning September 17, 2004, Kids' WB! entitled the Friday lineup "Gotta See-ee-eeh Falls", as they showed encore episodes of ¡Mucha Lucha! and Pokémon from the previous Saturday, and encore episodes of the new series Da Boom Crew and The Batman, as well as other things, such as new "lost" episodes of MegaMan: NT Warrior which were either skipped or dubbed out of order. However, this only went until October 15, 2004, a week earlier before it was originally scheduled to, when the network did a last-minute schedule change to prepare for November sweeps, replacing the scheduled encore of The Batman with an orderly rerun of Yu-Gi-Oh!. Magi-Nation: Battle for the Moonlands Sweepstakes On May 17, 2008, Kids' WB! held a sweepstakes to promote the online game "Magi-Nation: Battle for the Moonlands" on Cookie Jar's Magi-Nation website. In this sweepstakes, viewers were to watch Kids' WB! all morning long to find five secret code words, and then enter them online to be entered into a drawing for a pre-paid game card worth five dollars of in-game currency. This is the final sweepstakes Kids' WB! ever held, and it took place on their last day of programming. Pillow Head Hour The Pillow Head Hour began on June 4, 2005, as Kids' WB! was showing the final episodes of Jackie Chan Adventures, it was a full hour at 8:00 EST (7:00 CST/PST), where they did promos featuring what Kids' WB! characters' "Pillow Head Hair" would look like (what their hair would look like if they had just woken up from bed). The Pillow Head Hour was discontinued on June 25, 2005, when the network did a last-minute schedule change replacing Jackie Chan Adventures on July 2 with Teen Titans and The Batman. However, KidsWB.com made "Pillow Head Reports" featuring Gisselle, the Pillow Head Reporter for Kids' WB!, talking about things such as entertainment and media. Because of this, starting on January 7, 2006, when Saturdays were extended to five hours, the Pillow Head Hour was reborn at 7:00 a.m., featuring Giselle and a full hour of a randomly selected Kids' WB! show, and numerous guests talking about their "Pillow Head Hair". The Pillow Head Hour was discontinued once again on July 8, 2006, where Kids' WB! made their "Sizzlin' Summer Lineup" with two Yu-Gi-Oh! episodes in the former Pillow Head Hour's slot. This was supposed to be on September 23, 2006, for the 2006-2007 season, when it was then replaced with Shaggy and Scooby-Doo as then hosts of the block, from Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!, a show that was on Kids' WB, at that current period of time, until 2008, when Kids' WB! ceased, as well. The Pokémon Premiere Party This was the name given to Kids' WB!'s broadcast on February 13, 1999, which marked the first time that Pokémon was shown on the block (the episode aired on that date was "The Problem with Paras"). Unfortunately for fans of Warner Bros. Animation, though, it was in this same weekend that The Big Cartoonie Show (which came right after Pokémon) was shortened down to half an hour. Top of the Tower Win-a-Rama During the 2002-03 season, from time to time, Kids' WB! would run a contest, usually during weekdays when they had them, where each day they gave you a code to enter on KidsWB.com and be drawn to win some merchandise, usually relating to a Kids' WB! show. The first one was for Yu-Gi-Oh! in the week of September 16, 2002. Sometimes it coincided with the week as a show was given a special airing, such as the "Weekday Shift" that aired Rescue Heroes the whole week, or the special weeks of catching up on The Mummy: The Animated Series or the week of new Cubix: Robots for Everyone episodes. Zany Insany April Ozzy from Ozzy & Drix hosted Kids' WB! in April 2003, and named it "Zany Insany April". For the occasion, every week in April, at 3:30 p.m., Kids' WB! aired a show that would normally air on Saturday, such as Ozzy & Drix, The Mummy: The Animated Series, Static Shock, ¡Mucha Lucha!, and X-Men: Evolution. Saturday promos included the "You Rhyme It, We Rap It, Rap-a-Thon", where viewers could make a rap about a Kids' WB! show and Scooby-Doo and Shaggy from Scooby-Doo would get some other Kids' WB! character to perform the rap on TV, or the "Burpalicious Belchathon", where viewers could compete with Kids' WB! characters to see how loud they could burp. Movie Specials Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer This Christmas special originally aired on Kids' WB! on Monday, December 23, 2002 at 4:00 PM. It aired in The WB's primetime slots beforehand. Both entities have rebroadcast it, usually around Christmas time. The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon This is the one-hour tenth-anniversary special of the Pokémon franchise, and it aired in the USA before anywhere else, even Japan. Kids' WB! first aired on April 29, 2006 at 10:00 AM, and it was the first Pokémon program dubbed by Pokémon USA, and the only program dubbed by Pokémon USA to air on Kids' WB!. Kids' WB! ran a promotional sweepstakes during it to win Pokémon: Tenth Anniversary merchandise. Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys Kids' WB! aired the world premiere English-language version of this movie on January 22, 2005 at 10:00 AM. However, it was edited due to time constraints. The full-length movie was released on DVD February 15, 2005. Before the movie, during the preceding programs, Kids' WB! rolled out the red carpet to meet the stars of the movie. Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo The movie aired on September 16, 2006 before The WB Television Network was shut down and converted to The CW Television Network. Wakko's Wish This two-hour Animaniacs movie originally aired on Kids' WB! on February 22, 2000. Zolar Kids' WB!'s first ever original movie, and one of their only live-action programs in history, debuted on May 29, 2004. It featured a sport-competing alien named Zolar, from another planet. His catch phrase was "Blue-yah!" During the movie, Kids' WB! ran a sweepstakes to win a year's supply of buttered popcorn. References Category:Television Programming Block Category:1995 Premieres Category:2008 Endings